Thankfully, "Eventide" not only features some of the finest choral singing you'll here anywhere; as far as chill albums go, it's one of the best I've heard . . . [all the performances] are without exception impeccable.

Sensational vocal ensemble Voces8 make Decca debut with Eventide, a sublime collection of pieces devoted to repose and reflection

Charisma and versatility come naturally to Voces8, one of Britain’s
finest vocal ensembles. They make their Decca debut with an exquisite
album inspired by inner peace and musical repose. Eventide
unites original compositions and sublime new arrangements to create a
compelling programme certain to touch listeners’ hearts. The eight
young singers of Voces8 perform everything from early medieval
plainsong to an uplifting transcription of John Williams’ “Hymn to
the Fallen” from his Grammy Award®-winning soundtrack to
Saving
Private Ryan. The album’s seductive mix of rich vocal harmonies
and haunting melodies for solo cello, harp and saxophone brings a
fresh contemporary edge to the soundworld of Voces8.
Eventide
will
captivate choral fans and appeal to the vast audience for spiritual music.

This is an inspirational programme infused with the meditative spirit of sacred chant.
Eventide opens with an arrangement of the ancient plainsong hymn
Te Lucis Ante Terminum
for voices and saxophone, a track
that evokes the transcendent sounds of
Officium
, Jan Garbarek’s best-selling collaboration with the Hilliard
Ensemble. Royal Wedding composer Paul Mealor’s
Locus Iste
connects with the radiant purity of plainsong at
its most intense, while Voces8 deepen this album’s contemplative mood with two beautiful pieces by Patrick
Hawes,
Reflexionem
and
Quanta Qualia,
and
a stunning performance of Karl Jenkins’s popular
Benedictus
.
Other
Eventide
highlights include Morten Lauridsen’s
O Magnum Mysterium
, Eric Whitacre’s
The Seal Lullaby
and an exquisite Harvey Brough arrangement of Britten’s
Corpus Christi Carol
. The young Norwegian composer
Ola Gjeilo was inspired to write
Second Eve
by the sun setting on Alsaka’s Mount McKinley. A rising star of
New York’s contemporary music scene, he launches his score with towering chordal sounds and intensifies the
atmosphere with a serene alto solo. In addition Voces8 explore the hymn-like qualities of two contemporary
songs with a cappella arrangements of Emeli Sandé’s “Where I Sleep” and Kate Rusby’s “Underneath the
Stars”.